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Issue: Vol. 77 No. 1: 31 Dec. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-12-31
DOI: 10.12976/jib/2025.77.1.10
Page range: 60-70
Abstract views: 115
PDF downloaded: 35

Farther East: New Ghilarellinae wasps (Hymenoptera: Sepulcidae) from the Albian of the Republic of Korea extend the geographic range of the subfamily

Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK
Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, 117647 Moscow, Russia; Institute of Zoology, Al-Farabi Avenue 93, 050060 Almaty, Kazakhstan
Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, 117647 Moscow, Russia; Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
Gongju National University of Education, Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do 32553, Republic of Korea.
Gongju National University of Education, Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do 32553, Republic of Korea.
Department of Dinosaur Paleontology and Geology, Faculty of Dinosaur Paleontology, Fukui Prefectural University, 4-1-1 Matsuoka, Eiheiji, Fukui 910-1195, Japan; Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, 51-11 Terao, Muroko, Katsuyama City, Fukui 911-8601, Japan
Jinju Formation Cretaceous Korean Peninsula new genus new species

Abstract

The study of the invertebrate fauna of the lower Albian Jinju Formation (Republic of Korea) has experienced renewed interest over the past decade, with numerous new extinct species described each year. Among the various insect orders, Hymenoptera are relatively abundant in the assemblage, with many taxa being discovered and formally described on a regular basis. Within this group, Symphyta are particularly well represented, with series of specimens of varying preservation quality being documented. These newly discovered specimens frequently represent new species belonging to genera already known from subcontemporaneous deposits in China, Mongolia, and Russia, supporting the idea of a relatively homogeneous Early Cretaceous Asian entomofauna. Here, we further corroborate this pattern by describing a new species of Ghilarellinae assigned to the Asian genus Ghilarella, Ghilarella jinjuensis sp. nov. In addition, we describe a second species of the previously monotypic genus Meiaghilarella, which was formerly known only from Spain. The new species, Meiaghilarella stanislawlemi sp. nov., substantially extends the geographic range of the genus during the Albian, from a previously restricted occurrence in Spain to a trans-Laurasian distribution.

 

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